Chair structure



y 1, 1952 A. c. HOVEN ET AL 2,601,891

CHAIR STRUCTURE Original Filed June 28, 1948 I 2 SHEETSSHEET l 1 N VE NTOR5 vm and)! y 1952 A. c. HOVEN ET AL CHAIR STRUCTURE 2 SHEETS SHEET 2 igina 1 Filed J1 1ne 28, 1948 INVENTORS Alfred 6.][01Jezz a y i 15 211259:- .E.Norlzzr .arli,

ATTORNEY Patented July 1, 1952 TAT EJS OFFICE Rapids, Mich,, .assignors to American Seating Company, Grand Rapids, .Mich .a corporation Original application June :28, "1948, Serial No.

'35,;616, :no'w LPa-tent .No. 2,573,845, dated Decem- -bcr 6, 1951. Divided and this application Aurgustfi,1951,.SerialEN0. 240,134

7 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to chair struc- 'tures .and more particularly to .a back construction for chairs of the "recliner type, especially suitable for installation in :motorbusses or other vehicles. This application a division of our too-pending application Serial No. "35,616,, filed June 28, 1948, which matured into Patent No. "2,573,845,, 'on"Decem'ber '6, 1951.

The primary objects of the invention are to provide a recliner chair which is especially comfortable "for the occupant thereof; to provide an improved upholstered back for the chair which may be quickly assembled; and in general "to provide such a recliner type chair 'which is .effirient in usefreasonably economical in manufacture, and attractive in appearance.

These :and any other and morespe'cific objects hereinafter appearing are attained by, and the invention finds preferable embodiment in, the structure hereinafter particularly described and illustrated by the accompanying drawings, wherein:

'Figure '1 is "a rear perspective view of a twopassenger chair of -the recliner type adapted for installation 'in a vehicle;

Figure 2 "is a view 'of the same partly in side elevation and partly in section taken substantially .on the line 2-2 :of Figure .1;

Figure '3 is a rear :elevational view of a chair Iback for thestructure parts thereof beingbroken away "to reveal the -back frame;

Figure 41s .an enlargedffragmentary, sectional view of the chair back taken on 'line lll of Figure 13,;

Figure 5 isan enlarged, fragmentary, vertical sectional View of the .chair back taken -.on line 5- 5 of Figure 13; .zand

Figure '6 is an enlarged, fragmentary, horizoncal-sectional v-iew'of :the chair back taken on line 6--6 of Figure 3.

Referring 'now in 'detail to these drawings wherein like parts are designated by the same numerals in the several views, the chair there shown is of the two-passenger recliner type suitable for installation in -a motorbus, and is mounted on supporting frame l0 including standards 11 which are secured to :the floor of the vehicle in any suitable manner.

The chair seat I2 is of conventional upholstered I construction and is supported on the supporting frame l0, preferably removably, by any suitable means.

The chair backs l3, 14 for the occupants of the two-passenger chair, have substantially identical construction, mountings and operating 2 mechanisms, and therefore only one of themtheone on the near side-'of the structure as viewed in "Figure *1-is shown and described here in detail. This :chair back 14 is built upon a back frame comprising two irame units 1 5, I6 (see Figures 3-5 inclusive) fabricated or channel bars and bent "to generally U-shaped configuration with the channels opening inwardly, and the frame unit It has its flanges welded to the flanges 'of the frame unit :l5with the webs of said units spaced apart to formaliol-low rectangnla-r crosssection providing a very strong back :frame for the chair back. The leg portions of the outer frame unit 1 5 extend below the leg portions of the inner .frame unit l6,-and the channels at the extreme ends of the leg portions of the outer frame unit It are desirably closed by means of welded-on plates 1'! see Figure 3). The lower ends of the inner frame unit F6 are connected by aicharmel .bar crossra-il "I 8 (see Figures 3 and 5') :secured thereto by welding. The rearwardmost flanges of the inner *fr'am-e unit 1 6 :and of the :crossrail 18 are provided with integrally formed, inwardlry extending spurs +9 for-the attachment of upholstery.

The iback frame defines an opening which is closed by a panel 'overwhic'h the upholstering is applied. This panel maybe *of rigid material such as sheet metal and secured to the front surface of the back panel as by Welding. However in practice we prefer to make the panel of :an upholstery sheet "2 0 'of fabricfleather or the like, which 'is :stretched over the front surface of "the "back frame and has its marginal edges :drawn rearward-1y around the outer periphery of the back frame and pinned onto the spurs 19, said spurs piercing the .sheet 28 so as to secure .itjirmlyinposition on the back'frame. Upholstery fillingfhere shown as "comprising an inner layer of rubberized hair 2-1 and an outer layer of cotton ,pad'ding .22 (although other upholster- Qing materials, with or without springs, might be .used) is disposed over the front surface of the upholstery sheet 20. A second upholstery sheet 23 likewise of fabric, ile'ather or other suitable .material, is stretched over the "front surface of the .uphol's'teryfilling and has fits marginal edges Ilikewise drawn rearwardly .around'the iou'ter periphery of the i'back frame and pinned .onto the spurs l9. This front upholstery 's'heet'23 is preferably tailored to give the chair a neat and attractive appearance, and the upper portion of the chair protrudes slightly forwardly to form a head-rest to which may be attached a towel in conventional manner.

The opposite sides of the back frame are connected in their lower regions by a torque tube 24 (see Figures 3 and 5) which prevents twisting of the chair back, and a corrugated metal scuffplate 25 is hooked over the torque tube 24 dependingly therefrom and has its lower edge 26 flanged forwardly and upwardly to embrace the lower portion of the upholstery sheet 2-3. A metal finishing rim 21, preferably decoratively chromeplated, is of channel-bar construction and is bent to generally U-shaped configuration with the channel opening outwardly. This finishing rim 2'! is applied to the back frame as best seen in Figures 3, 4 and 6, and secured thereto by means of screws 28, thus concealing the back frame, the spurs l9, and the raw edges of the upholstering sheets 20 and 23.

The opposite side portions of the back frame form posts by means of which the chair back is mounted on the supporting frame for tilting movement about a horizontal axis above and rearwardly of the seat bottom.

It will thus be seen that the invention provides a back construction for a chair of the recliner type which is simple and sturdy in construction, attractive in appearance and efiicient in operation, and while but one specific embodiment of the invention has been herein shown and described it will be understood that numerous details may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the following claims.

We claim:

1. In a chair structure: a supporting frame; a chair seat mounted on the supporting frame; a back frame mounted on the supporting frame and provided with a series of inwardly extending spurs on its inner periphery; an upholstery sheet stretched over the front surface of the back frame and having its marginal edges drawn rearwardly around th outer periphery of said back frame and pinned onto said spurs; upholstery filling over the front surface of said upholstery sheet; and a secondary upholstery sheet stretched over the front surface of the filling and having its marginal edges drawn rearwardly around the outer periphery of said back frame and likewise pinned onto said spurs.

2. In a chair structure: a supporting frame; a

chair seat mounted on the supporting frame; a

back frame mounted on the supporting frame and provided with a series of inwardly extending spurs on its inner periphery; an upholstery sheet stretched over the front surface of the back frame and having its marginal edges drawn rearwardly around the outer periphery of said back frame and pinned onto said spurs; upholstery filling over the front surface of said upholstery sheet; a second upholstery sheet stretched over the front surface of the filling and having its marginal edges drawn rearwardly around the outer periphery of said back frame and likewise pinned onto said spurs; and a finishing rim applied to the inner periphery of the back frame concealing the back frame, the spurs, and the marginal edges of said upholstery sheets.

3. In a chair structure: a supporting frame; a chair seat mounted on the supporting frame; a back frame mounted on the supporting frame and defining an opening, said back frame being provided with a series of inwardly extending spurs on its inner periphery; a panel applied to the back frame closing said opening; upholstery filling over the front surface of said panel; and an upholstery sheet stretched over the front surface of the filling and having its marginal edges drawn rearwardly around the outer periphery of said back frame and pinned onto said spurs.

4. In a chair structure: a supporting frame; a chair seat mounted on the supporting frame; a back frame mounted on the supporting frame and defining an opening, said back frame being provided with a series of inwardly extending spurs on its inner periphery; a panel applied to the front surface of the back frame closing said opening; upholstery filling over the front surface of said panel; an upholstery sheet stretched over the front surface of the filling and having its marginal edges drawn rearwardly around the outer periphery of said back frame and pinned onto said spurs; and a finishing rim applied to the inner periphery of the back frame concealing the back frame, the spurs, and the marginal edges of said upholstery sheet.

5. In a chair structure: a supporting frame; a chair seat mounted on the supporting frame; a back frame mounted on the supporting frame and comprising a pair of channel bars, one of said channel bars having its flanges secured to the flanges of the other channel bar with the webs of said bars spaced apart to form a hollow rectangular cross-section; and a chair back mounted on the back frame.

6. In a chair structure: a supporting frame; a chair seat mounted on the supporting frame; a back frame mounted on the supporting frame and comprising a pair of generally U-shaped inwardly opening channel bars, one of said channel bars being secured within the other of said channel bars with the webs of said bars spaced apart to form a hollow rectangular cross-section; and a chair back mounted on the back frame.

7. In a chair structure: a supporting frame; a chair seat mounted on the supporting frame; a back frame mounted on the supporting frame and comprising a pair of generally U-shaped inwardly opening channel bars, one of said channel bars being secured within the other of said channel bars with the webs of said bars spaced apart to form a hollow rectangular cross-section, and one of said channel bars having spurs extending inwardly from one of the flanges thereof; a panel applied to the front surface of the back frame; upholstery filling over the front surface of the panel; and an upholstery sheet over the front surface of the filling and having its marginal edges drawn rearwardly around the outer eriphery of said back frame and pinned onto said spurs.

ALFRED C. HOVEN. WALTER E. NORDMARK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,306,864 Caesar et a1 Dec. 29, 1942 2,461,082 Purnell Feb. 8, 1949 

